Our Partners
About Our Fair Trade Cottage Industry Partners
The network of Fair Trade partners we support is one we have developed over 32 years. These partnerships are based on the Gandhian concepts of fair trade, cottage industry and ethical trade. Fair Trade can be defined as trading practices that promote worker welfare, minimize environmental damage, and allow producers to increase their living standards. In Fair Trade cottage industry partnerships such as ours, production happens in small family businesses, often at home. Therefore the working conditions and prices for the finished products are set by the producers themselves. Our primary focus is to partner with suppliers who are supporting worthy projects, foundations or individual families. We are committed to working with partners who are environmentally conscious, use recycled materials and sustainable practices. We travel each year to visit our partners and collaborate on new projects, products and designs. We stay in their homes and are treated like family. It is the experience of a lifetime!
India (Incense and Handcrafted Items)
Our Fair Trade partners in India have been rolling our Triloka Herbal Incense since 1977! These partners are multi-generational family businesses that provide men and women in their communities with good jobs that would otherwise be unavailable. One partner operates a Professional Ayurvedic Clinic and provides free treatments and care to its region.
We have long-standing partnerships with Indian Fair Trade groups that supply our handcrafted items. One of the larger groups that supplies our handcrafted items is a member of the Fair Trade organization of India, which is an Indian venture and association of craftspeople and social workers that creates cleaner and safer workshops and work environments. The payment of workers is good and free schooling for the children and healthcare is provided. Needless to say, there is no child labor and children are regularly bailed out of child servitude. Several western and Indian designers support the craftspeople by creating designs suitable for the western marketplace. This organization has been promoting Fair Trade for 20 years and is recognized by the Indian labor ministry.
Nepal (Textiles, Jewelry, Singing Bowls, etc.)
We have worked with our Fair Trade partners in Nepal for over twenty-five years. This company was established to financially support a large Tibetan Buddhist monastery. Profits help support this monastery. The monastery now houses over 200 young monks living in exile. We have inspected the workshops and visited the monastery many times. It is an amazing, beautiful, clean, joyful place. This company supplies many of our textile items such as silk and brocade bags, as well as silver jewelry, copper bracelets, and Tibetan singing bowls, bells and more.
North America - Native American Smudges
Triloka Global Shaman smudges are wildcrafted in a sustainable manner that preserves and respects the natural environment . Our smudges are wildcrafted by Native American reservation cooperatives. They are harvested in a sustainable manner that preserves and respects the natural environment. Our partners are preserving a Native American tradition while providing income for their families. We are honored to support this effort, which is bringing hope to a community in poverty.
India (Sterling Silver Jewelry)
Our inspirational jewelry is handmade by our Fair Trade cottage industry partners in Northern India. One of our cottage industry partners is an amazing husband and wife team that embodies Fair Trade and preserves the art of handcrafted jewelry making and gemstone cutting.